Table Of ContentMoral and Spiritual Leadership
in an Age of Plural Moralities
In crisis situations, such as terror attacks or societal tensions caused by
migration, people tend to look for explicit moral and spiritual leadership
and are often inclined to vote for so-called ‘strong leaders.’ Is there a way
to resist the temptation of the simplistic solutions that these ‘strong leaders’
offer, and instead encourage constructive engagement with the complex
demands of our times? This volume utilizes relational and dialogical
perspectives to examine and address many of the issues surrounding the
moral and spiritual guidance articulated in globalizing Western societies.
The essays in this collection focus on the concept of plural moralities,
understood as divergent visions on what is a ‘good life,’ in an ethical,
aesthetical, existential, and spiritual sense. They explore the political-
cultural context and consequences of plural moralities as well as discussing
challenges, possibilities, risks, and dangers from the perspective of two
promising relational theories: social constructionism and dialogical self
theory. The overarching argument is that it is possible to constructively put
in nuanced moral and spiritual guidance into complex, plural societies.
By choosing a clear theoretical focus on relational approaches to societal
challenges, this interdisciplinary book provides both a broad scope and a
coherent argument. It will be of great interest to scholars of social and political
psychology, leadership and organization, religious studies, and pedagogy.
Hans Alma holds an endowed chair in Contemporary Humanism at the
VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Belgium, Department of Philosophy and
Ethics.
Ina ter Avest is Professor Emerita of the Inholland University of Applied
Sciences and was Senior Lecturer in Religious Education at the Vrije
Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Studies in World Christianity and Interreligious Relations
Series Editor
Frans Wijsen
Radboud University, The Netherlands
Editorial Board:
Michael Amaladoss (Chennai, India)
Francis Clooney (Cambridge, USA)
Fatimah Husein (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Diego Irarrazaval (Santiago, Chile)
Robert Schreiter (Chicago, USA)
Abdulkader Tayob (Cape Town, South Africa)
Anya Topolski (Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
The aim of this series is to publish scholarly works of high merit on relations
between believers of various streams of Christianity, as well as relations
between believers of Christianity and other religions. We welcome studies
from all disciplines, including multi- and interdisciplinary studies, which
focus on intra- and inter-religious relations and are non-denominational.
The Decline of Established Christianity in the Western World
Interpretations and Responses
Edited by Paul Silas Peterson
Religion and Social Reconstruction in Africa
Edited by Elias Kifon Bongmba
Catholic Missionaries and their Work with the Poor
Mitigating Market-Government Failure in Emerging Nations
Albino Barrera
Moral and Spiritual Leadership in an Age of Plural Moralities
Edited by Hans Alma and Ina ter Avest
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
religion/series/WCIR
Moral and Spiritual
Leadership in an Age
of Plural Moralities
Edited by Hans Alma and Ina ter Avest
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, Hans Alma and Ina ter Avest;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Hans Alma and Ina ter Avest to be identified as the
authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-48941-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-03762-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Preface vii
List of contributors viii
Introduction 1
HANS ALMA AND INA TER AVEST
PART I
Theoretical perspectives 11
1 Toward a relational ethic 13
KENNETH J. GERGEN
2 Dialogical self theory in a boundary-crossing society 27
HUBERT J.M. HERMANS
3 Religion, radicalism, relativism: between social identity
and dialogical self theory 48
FRANS WIJSEN
4 Plural moralities and the search for meaning 70
HANS ALMA
PART II
Developing theory and practice in dialogue
Leadership in an age of plural moralities 89
5 Provocative guidance: a practice of narrative leadership 91
INA TER AVEST
vi Contents
6 Dialogical leadership: leading yourself across boundaries
of self and culture 107
RENS VAN LOON AND ANGEL S. BUSTER
7 Developing intercultural sensitivity in a world
of multicultural identities 128
JUTTA KÖNIG
Education in an age of plural moralities 153
8 Plural British Values: between generosity and fear 155
JULIA IPGRAVE
9 Life orientation as part of professional development:
moral leadership of professionals from a DST perspective 172
EDWIN VAN DER ZANDE AND COK BAKKER
10 Moral commitment and existential issues in religious
and worldview education 196
GEIR SKEIE
Citizenship in an age of plural moralities 219
11 The culturalization of citizenship in the Netherlands:
towards cosmopolitan sociabilities in a neoliberal epoch 221
TOON VAN MEIJL
12 Beyond the boundaries: overcoming resentments,
resistance, and revulsion 244
MARY GERGEN
13 Orientation, disorientation, and reorientation in the
context of plural moralities: experiences of
an LGBT refugee arriving in the Netherlands 271
CARMEN SCHUHMANN AND ROBIN KNIBBE
Epilogue 291
HANS ALMA AND INA TER AVEST
Index 298
Preface
In April 2016, an international expert meeting on Moral and Spiritual Guid-
ance in Liquid Times was held at cultural center Akoesticum in Ede, the
Netherlands. Participants reflected on urgent societal themes related to what
Zygmunt Bauman has called “liquid modernity,” from a relational and dia-
logical perspective. The meeting aimed at gaining deep insight into these
themes from the shared experience of the participating academics and prac-
titioners who work in different fields (psychology, religious studies, anthro-
pology, humanistic studies, and education studies as academic disciplines
on the one hand, and coaching, consulting, teaching, and spiritual care as
practical areas on the other). During the meeting, research questions were
formulated and explored, and the first outlines were drawn for a book that
would both address theoretical issues and have a strong practical relevance.
The book you hold now is the result of that highly inspiring and chal-
lenging project. We decided to focus on what we called plural moralities
and explore it from the point of view of both a relational ethic and the
moral implications of dialogical self theory. We discussed issues regarding
moral and spiritual leadership and wrestled with questions on what leader-
ship could mean from an authentic relational point of view. We exchanged
many ideas during the expert meeting and brought them home with us to
digest them in the context of our own daily professional work. We read each
other’s contributions and related to them in our own chapter. In this way,
a “web” was woven that manifests the main topic of this volume: building
relationships in our complex and diverse globalizing world.
As editors, we would like to thank all the persons who contributed to the
book: the participants at the expert meeting, the discussants who reflected
on our presentations, the authors, and Jack Boothroyd from Routledge,
who guided us through the process. We also thank Kerk en Wereld for its
financial support. We share with this organization a strong commitment to
justice, inclusiveness, and community building. We hope that this volume
will contribute to both practical endeavors and academic research related
to meaningful guidance and leadership in just societies in an age of plural
moralities.
Hans Alma and Ina ter Avest
Contributors
Hans Alma holds an endowed chair in Contemporary Humanism at the
VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Belgium, Department of Philosophy and
Ethics. Trained in cultural psychology and psychology of religion at the
Radboud University Nijmegen, her research focuses on the human search
for meaning in life. She studied the ways people commit themselves to
a religious tradition and the religious meaning of art. Her research also
addresses worldview pluralism, especially the role of the imagination and
the arts in coping with religious diversity and fluidity in a globalizing
world. Using a process approach to worldview studies, she specifically
analyzes the way humanism develops in this context. She is coordinator
of the international research consortium SIMAGINE (Social Imaginaries
in a Globalizing World) and is co-editor of a recent volume with the same
title (De Gruyter, 2018).
Ina ter Avest is Professor Emerita of the Inholland University of Applied
Sciences and was senior lecturer in Religious Education at the Vrije
Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She did her master’s at the
Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and graduated as a psy-
chologist of Culture and Religion. In her PhD research she focused on
the religious development of pupils (primary school) in an intercultural
and interreligious context – a domain at the crossroads of psychology
of religion and intercultural pedagogy. In her teaching as well as in her
research, (religious) identity development is central: identity development
of pupils/students, of teachers, and of teams of teachers in schools. In
her private practice she combines her theoretical frame of reference of
the dialogical self theory (she was trained as a consultant following the
self confrontation method) with her education as a psychodramatist, and
coaches individuals as well as groups.
Cok Bakker is Professor of Religious and Worldview Education in the Depart-
ment of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the Faculty of Humanities,
Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He has a background in Theology
and Religious Studies (MA, 1988) and Educational Studies (1991) and
holds a PhD from Utrecht University (1994). His research focuses on
Contributors ix
the relationship between education and worldviews and morality in the
broadest sense. Additionally, his appointment at the university includes
spending two days a week on secondment to the Hogeschool Utrecht,
University of Applied Sciences as professor (lector) at the Research Centre
for Learning and Innovation. His role there is to lead the research group
that focuses on the theme of “Normative Professionalization.” As part of
a joint project by Utrecht University and HU University of Applied Sci-
ences a research group of about 15 (PhD) researchers has been formed.
The supervision of PhD research has thus become a key task.
Angel S. Buster is a PhD candidate at Tilburg University, the Netherlands,
focused on identity challenges in family businesses using a dialogical
approach. She has more than 15 years’ experience in the field of personal
change and leadership development. Currently, she works as a leadership
consultant and therapist where, in both roles, she helps free the system(s)
from sedimented positions in order to improve physical, mental, emo-
tional, and spiritual wellbeing.
Kenneth J. Gergen is a Senior Research Professor in Psychology at
Swarthmore College, USA, and the president of the Taos Institute. He is
internationally known for his contributions to social constructionist the-
ory, technology and cultural change, the self, and relational practices. His
major writings include Realities and Relationships: Soundings in Social
Construction, The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contempo-
rary Life, An Invitation to Social Construction, and Relational Being:
Beyond Self and Community. Gergen lectures throughout the world and
has received numerous awards for his work, including honorary degrees
in both the United States and Europe.
Mary Gergen is Professor Emerita of Psychology and Women’s Studies at
Penn State University, Brandywine (USA), special sections editor of Qual-
itative Psychology, as well as a board member of the Taos Institute, a
non-profit organization dedicated to the integration of social construc-
tionist ideas with diverse professional practices throughout the world.
With a strong interest in feminist gerontology, she is a co-editor of the
Positive Aging newsletter, an online publication, which is available in six
languages. Her major works are involved at the intersection of feminist
theory and social constructionist ideas. In 2001 she published Feminist
Reconstructions in Psychology: Narrative, Gender and Performance. She
has also been author or editor of nine other books, as well as over 100
articles and chapters for scholarly volumes. She has published pieces on
aging, dialogue, gender, narratives, collaborative practices, performance,
and qualitative inquiry.
Hubert J.M. Hermans is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Radboud
University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. His dissertation (1967) was on
Motivation and Achievement and resulted in two psychological tests:
